ISP Summer Spotlight: Exploring ESG and Innovation across Namibia & South Africa
Earlier in the summer, we shared a few takeaways from the first half of the 2023 travel season, one of those being that academics are once again the number one priority for clients and students alike. Universities are coming to us with more specific and detailed topics to center their study program around. Notably, ESG is one of the more pertinent topics for education and business in the modern era as an increased awareness of sustainability and social issues resonates across the globe.
A significant percentage of our trips this year have contained environmental, social and governance (ESG) components in Europe, the Middle East, South America and Africa. And one program that focused entirely on ESG was with a cohort of undergraduate and MBA students from The University of Houston-Downtown to Namibia and South Africa.
At the tail end of the program, we sat down with some of the participants to ask a few questions about their experience. See what they had to say about their experience…
Windhoek, Namibia in focus
A new destination for us, as well as being one of the only African nations with sustainability written into its constitution and a country focused on positioning itself as a global leader in sustainable tourism, it’s no surprise this was a destination fit for ESG. The group spent 3 days of their trip in the highest-ranked desert country on the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), during which they got the chance to meet with distribution and logistics innovators, Jabu, had a roundtable discussion with the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Windhoek and enjoyed a very hands-on and interactive visit to electric bike pioneers, Ebikes4Africa.
On to Cape Town!
Renowned for its natural beauty and diverse ecosystem, the city's commitment to preserving its natural resources aligns with the principles of sustainability and environmental responsibility. The students got to see this in action with an interactive visit to Fresh Life Produce, an initiative aiming to transform low-income communities into producers of fruit and vegetables, tackling food insecurity through vertical farming, followed by an eye-opening presentation from Shout-It-Now, who’s addressing gender-based violence, the HIV epidemic and youth health across South Africa.
Other visits included one of our favorites at ISP, Khayelitsha Cookies, whose mission is to tackle female unemployment and UVU Africa a Startup accelerator and innovation hub for a vast number of emerging businesses. And of course, what trip to Cape Town would be complete without exploring the stunning vineyards and beaches, sampling local dishes and delicacies and a morning climbing Table Mountain?
If you’d like to get a full rundown of the day-to-day academic and cultural events from the program you can download the itinerary below. You can also request your very own free, bespoke proposal in the destination of your choice by reaching out to me with my email address below, and let’s get planning!
Eliska Jaros
Head of Sales
jaros@studyprograms.com
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